locksmith
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Google Search starts connecting you directly to plumbers, locksmiths
Amazon launched a home services directory in 41 cities a few months ago, and now Google is dipping its toe in the water. According to the Wall Street Journal, for those "in and around" San Francisco, searching for terms like lock repair or clogged toilet will bring you a list of prescreened professionals in the area prepared to take care of those problems. As you can see in the screenshot (after the break), we gave it a try with "clean house" and got not only the list with contact info, but a way to send a few interesting parties a request quickly. The key here, is that you never have to leave Google.com for any of that, and the people listed pay for the privilege (plus screening for licenses and background checks) through Google's AdWords Express.
KeyMe iOS app photographs your keys and stores them in the cloud
We've all been there. Staring forlornly at a locked door, keyless, with Gandalf's rumbling voice echoing in our heads, telling us that we would not pass. It's a sorry sight, and the people behind the iOS app KeyMe are determined to make it a thing of the past. The app (available at the link below) takes photos of your keys and scans them to translate the images into diagrams. If you've locked yourself out, you can simply waltz into your local locksmith's shop with your diagram or find a KeyMe kiosk near you to have an identical key cut. It's free to store your keys in the cloud, but accessing them comes with a $10 charge (which is pretty small potatoes when you consider the cost of an emergency locksmith). While the app is strictly iOS for now, an Android version is in the works, though KeyMe cautions users not to expect it anytime soon.
Keyless Ride's K2 poses as an OEM-compatible car remote, saves you time and money
If your keyless entry fob stops working, finding a replacement can be harrowing, which is why automotive locksmith Keyless Ride developed the K2 universal remote. Rather than stocking hundreds of individual OEM units, dealerships just have to dock a K2, tell it what make, model and year your car is (it's compatible with 70 percent of the North American market) and it'll pair up with your ride's on-board wireless hardware within five minutes. Better still, you can lighten the load in your pocket by adding a second car to the same remote (if you have a weekend whip, that is). The company will be demonstrating at next year's CES, throwing James Bond-style gun poses as they open two cars at once -- we hope.
Certain old keys, pets, and tabards to be retrievable in Wrath
One of the nice things about Wrath is the consolidation of bag space. With mounts and pets becoming skills instead of items, it'll free up a lot of bag space for us pack rats. Unfortunately, for now, we still need that bag space, and to get enough of it, some of us have been forced to delete pets, tabards, and keys that we've otherwise outgrown. But if you're lamenting the loss of your Miniwing, or if you're having second thoughts about deleting that Battle Tabard of the Defilers, take heart. Tigole's announced that Wrath of the Lich King will include a way to recover deleted unique tabards, keys, and vanity pets. For keys, you'll talk to a locksmith, for pets, a stable master, and for tabards, a tabard vendor (likely the ones in the capital town halls). This only works on unique, one-per-character items, of course, so if you deleted a rare drop, you'll still have to go farm it again. It also doesn't appear to be currently implemented on Beta, but hopefully it is soon so we can test it and make sure all the right unique stuff can be recovered again -- I'm hoping they include non-key keys like the Scepter of Celebras. In the meantime, it's nice to see that Blizzard's continuing to allow us just a little bit more leeway in character customization and giving us pack rats more options to keep the stuff we love. Next stop: Player housing with item display cases! Hey, I can dream.
Bump keying: $1 keys open any lock
Anyone who knows anything about locks and lock picking knows that most locks on most doors -- the tumbler variety -- can be picked with a little skill and a couple of tools. But what would you say to the frightening truth that lying before the world these hundreds and hundreds of years we've been using tumbler locks, was a simple technique that allows an intruder to quietly, quickly, easily open any lock for the cost of a copied key? It's called bump keying, and we can assure you it has nothing to do with certain white narcotics. By simply cutting some keys down to serrated-like edges of sharp, even peaks and valleys, an amateur can break into a home in less time than it takes to disassemble a bic pen. Watch as a master locksmith walks up to his own shop, bumps a key, and cruises right in only to declare that his own front door is now no longer more secure than it would be using a $10 lock (after the break). The cheap, easy, no-mess skeleton key: coming to a robbery near you. Alert your insurance agents, everybody. [Warning: PDF link!][Via MAKE: Blog]
